Plus, stimulus negotiations are still going, Pfizer said it has set up its “biggest ever” logistics operation to distribute its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, and Nikola shares are up on hopes for its deal with GM.
Stocks were higher to start Wednesday with the Dow adding 35 points, or 0.2%. The S&P 500 gained 0.3%, while the Nasdaq climbed 0.3%.
Why yes, we are still talking about stimulus. Negotiations continue today after White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said the goal in discussions with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is a deal on stimulus within the next 48 hours. “The last 24 hours have moved the ball down the field,” Meadows said this morning on Fox Business, adding that the goal is “some kind of deal in the next 48 hours or so.” Pelosi, for her part, said late yesterday that she’s hopeful for a stimulus agreement this week. “That’s the plan. That’s what I would hope,” Pelosi said about reaching a compromise this week. But even if remaining differences can be bridged between White House and Democratic negotiators, Senate Republicans remain a key roadblock, as many oppose a bill on the scale of what’s now under negotiation, with Majority Leader Mitch McConnell warning the White House not to rush into an agreement before the election. Goldman Sachs said the chances of a stimulus deal passing before Election Day are slim. “Some of the biggest issues remain unresolved and a deal doesn’t seem particularly close,” Goldman economist Alec Phillips wrote in a note. “With big differences and little time, it seems unlikely that Pelosi and Mnuchin will reach a deal before the election. More importantly, even if a deal in principle is announced in the coming days—this seems possible, but not likely—it looks very unlikely that it would pass before Election Day.”
Pfizer said it has set up its “biggest ever” logistics operation to distribute its COVID-19 vaccine once approved, The Wall Street Journal reported. The drugmaker has plans to deliver up to 100 million doses of its vaccine this year, and another 1.3 billion next year. It’s logistical preparation reflects its desire to move as quickly as possible to get its vaccine distributed widely into the population once it gains approval from the FDA. Pfizer’s vaccine candidate is being developed in partnership with BioNTech and is in the midst of Phase 3 trials with data expected as early as the end of this month, and a possible emergency use authorization application by late November.
Snap shares are up more than 35% this morning after the social media company posted an unexpected third quarter profit. Snap reported adjusted earnings per share of $0.01 on revenue of $679 million, versus expectations for a loss of $0.05 per share on revenue of $555.9 million, and 249 million daily active users versus analysts estimates for 244.12 million. “The adoption of augmented reality is happening faster than we had previously anticipated, and we are working together as a team to execute on the many opportunities in front of us,” Snap CEO Evan Spiegel said in a statement. In not so positive earnings news, Netflix reported earnings after the bell Tuesday, falling short of analyst estimates on earnings per share and global subscriber additions. Netflix reported earnings per share of $1.74 on revenue of $6.44 billion, versus analysts’ estimates for earnings per share of $2.14 on revenue of $6.38 billion, with global paid net subscriber additions of 2.2 million, compared to 3.57 million expected.
Nikola shares are also up this morning, gaining more than 11%, after a General Motors executive said the automaker still sees a tie-up with the company being a great opportunity. GM President Mark Reuss said the automaker is still continuing “to work the opportunity” of its $2 billion deal with Nikola, which was announced last month and has since come under scrutiny following fraud allegations against Nikola and the downfall of its former executive chairman, Trevor Milton. “The opportunity to put our fuel cells into a class 7 and 8 vehicle is spectacular,” Reuss said. “We know there’s great operational cost advantages there, there’s great efficiencies and there’s great opportunities.”
Disney and Universal Studios were dealt a big blow as California announced that large theme parks couldn’t open until daily coronavirus cases in the state dropped below 1 per 100,000 in their counties. While both Disney and Universal, which is owned by Comcast, had hoped to be able to reopen when their counties reached “moderate” spread levels, or between 1 and 3.9 cases per 100,000 people, the state said the companies must wait for the lowest tier, or “minimal” spread to reopen. “We have proven that we can responsibly reopen, with science-based health and safety protocols strictly enforced at our theme park properties around the world,” said Ken Potrock, president of Disneyland Resort. “Nevertheless, the State of California continues to ignore this fact, instead of mandating arbitrary guidelines that it knows are unworkable and that hold us to a standard vastly different from other reopened businesses and state-operating facilities.”
Stocks We’re Watching
Pulmatrix Inc (NASDAQ: PULM): Pulmatrix today announced marketing and distribution partner Sensory Cloud’s commercial launch of FEND, a hypertonic calcium chloride salt solution with nasal mister, that it believes could be an important new hygiene option beyond masks to combat the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. “There is a growing body of scientific evidence that FEND, delivered by Sensory Cloud’s FEND Mister, has the ability to reduce bioaerosol production, addressing even the smallest aerosol particles not blocked by masks. This commercial launch is an important milestone for Pulmatrix, leveraging our work in developing NasoCalm, now formulated and distributed as FEND to help combat the ongoing COVD-19 pandemic,” said Ted Raad, Chief Executive Officer of Pulmatrix. “We believe the global launch of FEND, if successful, could provide a new source of revenue to enable the advancement of our iSPERSE™ platform of inhaled therapies and we are thrilled to have played a role in bringing this product to the public.”